ORLANDO, Fla. – The picture shows Marcus Smart standing in the middle of a world-champion basketball team, hoisting a big trophy over his head and beaming the smile of a 19-year-old with a well-earned gold medal around his neck.

Two spots to Smart’s right, Elfrid Payton holds up one finger to symbolize that no other team could take this one down. Behind them stands Aaron Gordon. At the time of the photo, the three players had not yet been named lottery picks. But in some ways, winning the 2013 U-19 FIBA World Championships was better.

“It was incredible,” said Gordon, Payton’s teammate in the NBA after the Orlando Magic acquired both on draft night. “It put such a genuine smile on my face.”

Gordon clearly perked up when the topic of that team was broached – “man, that team was loaded,” he said, shaking his head – and only became more animated while describing the United States full-court press.

“We ran teams out of the gym,” he said. “I was at the top of the press, and it was just unfair. I would run and steal the ball and dunk it, and then I would run and steal the ball and dunk it. We just overwhelmed people with athleticism. With Serbia there was a little bit of competition, and Croatia, but other than that not much.”

With two 2014 second-round picks, Jerami Grant and Jarnell Stokes; Jahlil Okafor, the early frontrunner for 2015 No. 1 overall pick; and a host of talented college contributors, the United States rolled up a 39.6-point average margin of victory, forcing 22 turnovers per game. They made winning look easy, but Smart pointed out that the perfect run took more than just talent.

“It kind of reminds me of how the Celtic Pride is,” he said. “You have a lot of great players who sacrifice their egos and all self-incentives for one thing, and that's to help the team be something greater than themselves, to play for the name on the front of the jersey rather than on the back.”

A lot of the time, practices felt more competitive than games. Smart believes that more than anybody else on the roster, he used Payton as a measuring stick. One year later, it’s obvious why. But at the time, Payton was just making a big name for himself. Ironically, the Louisiana-Lafayette product was not initially considered for the team. He didn’t get invited to the tryout until his college coach called Billy Donovan, the Team USA coach, to stress that Payton deserved a chance to make the roster. He ended up earning a starting spot.

“I grew a lot with him,” Smart said. “Great player and he's just a great kid, somebody that works hard. His effort on the court is unbelievable. He challenged me every day. I challenged him. Us being the two guards on the team, we stepped up to a leadership role.”

Added Payton: “We didn’t get to go at each other as much because we were usually on the first team together. But when we did have our competitions it was great, man, because he’s such a great competitor. He doesn’t want to lose. I don’t want to lose. So it just made us better. And it made our team better also.

“We just were so deep. We just out-willed people. We were just giving teams chaos in the backcourt. Halftime, it was over after that.”

Games weren’t always over at halftime. In the championship game, the United States led just 57-53 moments into the fourth quarter before Smart scored five points to catalyze a 13-1 run.

“It was a good team so he had to take a lesser role,” said Gordon, who claimed tournament MVP honors with averages of 12.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. “That’s just what you have to do. But when it came time to win, or when it came time to sway the game, he was able to impose his will.”

Payton still tries to stay in touch with Smart as much as he can, but, with games and practices getting in the way, hasn’t had much opportunity to meet up with him in Orlando. They spoke a lot during the pre-draft process, sometimes matching up against each other during workouts, including one in Boston.

“Going against each other and stuff like that, it was cool,” Payton said. “He’s a great guy, a great competitor. I love playing against Marcus. Love playing with him, also.”

Though the Magic rookies likely won’t be teammates with Smart again anytime soon, they consider him something like a brother.

“Everybody on that team,” said Gordon. “We have a bond that can’t be broken.”